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About Oliva
We started Oliva because we experienced the problem ourselves. As investors, we saw a market where the numbers you receive depend on who is selling to you. Gross yields presented as net. Costs hidden until the last minute. Data sourced from marketing brochures, not government records.
We built what we could not find: a scoring engine that runs on official data, a fee structure disclosed before you ask, and an investment process that works whether you are in Dubai or 5,000 miles away.
936
Projects analyzed
8
Scoring dimensions
168
Areas covered
0%
Buyer fee on off-plan
Our Story
Dubai is one of the most exciting property markets in the world. But for investors, especially those buying from abroad, the experience has always been frustrating. The data is fragmented. Fees are negotiated in private. And the people helping you buy are incentivized to sell, not to analyze.
Oliva was built to change that. We combined RERA-licensed brokerage services with a data engine that evaluates every off-plan project using information from government records, licensed data providers, and macroeconomic sources. The result is a platform where you can see what a property is actually worth, what it will actually cost, and what returns you can realistically expect.
Our scoring is independent. A property’s Oliva Score is determined by data, not by how much commission we earn from the developer. We publish our methodology. We publish our fees. We believe that when investors have better information, everyone in the market benefits.
Our Mission
Large institutional investors have always had access to comprehensive data, financial modeling, and risk analysis before making property decisions. Individual investors have historically relied on broker recommendations, developer marketing, and word of mouth.
We are building the tools that close this gap. Every investor on Oliva, regardless of budget size, gets the same data, the same scoring, and the same transparency about costs and risks. No premium tier for better information. No information asymmetry.
This is not about technology for its own sake. It is about giving you the confidence to make property investment decisions based on real data and your own judgment, rather than relying solely on the advice of someone who earns a commission from your purchase.
Leadership
Founder and CEO
Javier founded Oliva after twelve years building and selling regulated financial platforms in Europe and the US. He was previously President and CEO of Ninety Nine, an ESMA-regulated broker-dealer that scaled to 5M+ users across the 27 EU markets before being acquired by a tier-one investment bank.
He started buying Dubai property with his own capital, found the data was scattered across DLD, RERA, Ejari and Mollak with no unified way to compare projects, and built Oliva to be the platform he wished existed. RERA BRN 1573501. DLD Broker Card 92025.
What We Stand For
Every fee is published. Every data source is cited. Every limitation is disclosed. We believe that trust is built through openness, not through marketing claims.
Our scoring engine uses official and licensed data sources. We do not use developer marketing materials as inputs. Scores are updated daily and calculated independently of our commercial interests.
The team
Oliva is founder-led today. Editorial and analytics roles are being hired now. Until those hires are named publicly, content that is not bylined to the founder is signed as Oliva Editorial - never to a placeholder persona.
Founder, President. RERA + DLD licensed.
House byline for editorial work not authored by the founder.
Data partnerships
Legal
Legal Name
Oliva DB Properties CO. L.L.C. S.O.C.
Trade License
1573501
RERA BRN
1573501
TRN
105237083800001
Registered Activity
Real Estate Buying and Selling Brokerage
Regulatory Authority
Dubai Land Department and Real Estate Regulatory Agency
Office
Ontario Tower, C1801, Business Bay, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Compliance
Founder deep dive
Javier Sanz Alvarez has spent twelve-plus years at the operating end of regulated finance, and now runs Oliva as its founder and CEO from the company's office in Business Bay - the same office where the editorial team sits and where investors meet the analysts who built their score. He is a RERA-registered agent (BRN 1573501) and a DLD-registered broker (Broker Card 92025).
Before Oliva, Javier worked across private equity, global IP-licensing operations at Emoji Company (Universal Studios' brand partner), and then spent seven years as President and CEO of Ninety Nine, an ESMA-regulated digital broker-dealer he built into a 5M-user, €5B-daily-volume platform operating across all 27 EU markets via MiFID II passporting. Ninety Nine was acquired by a tier-one investment bank in 2024, with the retail business divested to ABN Amro. That experience - underwriting platforms where a single regulatory or operational slip costs eight figures - shaped his view of what a Dubai property platform should look like.
What frustrates Javier about the Dubai property industry is the gap between the brochure and the asset. Most foreign buyers see a glossy renderer, a payment plan with optimistic exit assumptions, and a developer claim that the area yields 8% gross - and almost none of that survives a check against the underlying DLD transaction record. The work an institutional underwriter does in a week before signing a term sheet is the work most retail Dubai buyers never see.
Oliva exists to close that gap. Every project on the platform is scored on seven independent dimensions - financial value, market dynamics, location quality, developer trust, risk, macro context, and liquidity - using the same primary sources an institutional investor would insist on: the DLD transaction feed, RERA project filings and escrow status, the UAE Central Bank's mortgage and monetary policy data, and the regulator-issued bulletins that update the rules of the road quarter by quarter. There are no paid placements. There are no developer-funded scores. Oliva earns a standard developer-paid brokerage commission only when a buyer chooses to transact through Oliva, and the model that ranks a tower is the same whether you buy through us or not.
Javier signs off on every developer profile and every market analysis Oliva publishes. When an Oliva story is wrong, his name is on the correction. The editorial standards page (/about-us/editorial-standards) explains the correction policy, the source-of-record hierarchy, and the editorial chain of custody from data intake to publication.
What clients say
Day 1: First call with the buyer concierge, brief discussed. Day 4: Shortlist of 7 units delivered. Day 9: Viewings (remote, video). Day 11: Offer placed. Day 16: Offer accepted, MoU signed. Day 22: Down payment, KYC, escrow. Day 28: DLD title transfer. Day 31: Keys. I time everything. This is fast.
the one thing nobody tells you before you buy in Dubai is service charges. some towers are 14 aed/sqft, some are 25. it kills your yield. the research team sent me the actual service charge history for every building i was considering. one of them had increased SC 22% in 3 years. didn't buy that one. game changing data.
Most brokers say we underwrite and what they mean is they emailed the developer's brochure. The Oliva research desk sent me a 14-page report with rental comps, infrastructure timeline, service charge history of the developer's other towers, and a sensitivity table on yield assumptions. Took the recommendation. Cleared 9.2% net year 1.
Brokerage detail
The standard Dubai broker commission is 2 percent of the purchase price. On a resale property the buyer pays this commission to the licensed broker that represented them. On off-plan, the developer pays the broker commission, so the buyer pays no broker fee at all. That is the framework every RERA broker works inside.
What broker fees do not include: the DLD 4 percent transfer fee, the Oqood off-plan registration fee, the NOC fee charged by the developer on resale, and the trustee office fee at handover. A transparent broker itemises these separately before you sign the Form F.
For off-plan transactions, your payments flow into a developer escrow account approved by RERA. Funds are only released to the developer when construction milestones are verified by the Dubai Land Department. The escrow account is the buyer-protection mechanism behind every off-plan project we advertise.
Before you sign a Form A or Form F with any property agent in Dubai, run through this checklist.
A licensed broker is the start of the relationship, not the end. After handover, owners typically need Dubai property management for short-term or long-term let, plus Ejari registration, service-charge handling, and tenant placement. We refer clients to vetted Dubai property management partners and stay involved through the first letting cycle.
We design every feature around what investors actually need: reliable data, clear cost breakdowns, honest risk assessments, and a process that respects your time and intelligence.
We are RERA-licensed, AML-compliant, and PDPL-compliant. Every property advertisement carries valid Trakheesi permits. Compliance is not a burden we bear. It is the foundation of the trust our investors place in us.
Dubai Land Department (DLD)
Live transaction feed underpins every comp and yield figure on the platform.
Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA)
Project filings + escrow status; we publish RERA project codes alongside every off-plan listing.
Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security (ICA)
Visa + residency data informs our Golden Visa explainers.
UAE Central Bank
Mortgage + monetary policy data informs our financing and macro pieces.
RERA Licensed Brokerage
BRN 1573501. Compliant with Bylaw 85 of 2006. Every credential is verifiable through RERA.
AML/KYC Compliant
Full compliance with UAE Anti-Money Laundering regulations. Identity verification powered by iDenfy.
Data Protection (PDPL)
Data processed under UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021. TLS 1.3 encryption in transit, AES-256 at rest.
Escrow Protected
All off-plan payments go through RERA-approved escrow accounts as mandated by Dubai Law No. 8 of 2007.
Trakheesi Compliant
All property advertisements carry valid RERA advertising permit numbers.
For resale planning we keep your file warm: the same named broker that closed your purchase handles the resale years later, with full transaction history on hand.
What is a Trakheesi permit?
Trakheesi is the Dubai Land Department permit system that authorises a licensed broker to advertise a specific property or off-plan project. Every listing on Oliva references a Trakheesi advertising permit. If a property agent in Dubai cannot show one, the listing is not legally advertised.
How are Dubai broker fees and commissions calculated?
On resale, the standard Dubai broker commission is 2 percent of the purchase price, paid by the buyer at transfer. On off-plan, the developer typically pays the broker commission, so the buyer pays no broker fee. Dubai broker fees do not include the DLD 4 percent transfer fee, Oqood registration, or NOC charges.
What is an escrow account in a Dubai property purchase?
For off-plan property, RERA requires each project to be funded through a developer escrow account held at an approved bank. Buyer instalments are released to the developer only against construction milestones verified by the DLD. The escrow account is the buyer-protection mechanism behind every Trakheesi permitted off-plan launch.
Do I pay Oliva or the developer?
On off-plan, the developer pays the broker commission, so you pay only the developer payment plan and DLD fees. On resale, the buyer pays the 2 percent commission to the brokerage that represented them. Either way, Oliva discloses who pays whom before you sign.